Lonely Spirit
by Alaia Skyhawk
Summary: Based on Restoration Series. His existence was unheard of, a secret from all but his servants and one man. But just who were Ratatosk and Yasin, the ones with the life of the world in their hands?
1. The First Step

**Alaia Skyhawk: This is sort of an impulse thing, a random idea I had for a reasonably long story. I figured since I altered Ratatosk's back-story I might as well write a fic based on it. Bear in mind though I won't finish this fic until Restoration and Redemption is done, for obvious reasons.**

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**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

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**Summary: (Based on Restoration Series) His existence was unheard of, his life shrouded in secrecy, but just who was this being upon whose shoulders lay the weight of all life on Symphonia? ...Just who was Ratatosk?**

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Chapter 1: The First Step

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They waited, thousands of eyes gazing at the mottled brown and blue marble that was their hope for a new life. Long had they prepared for this moment, hundreds of years of planning all for this crucial day... The day they would leave their dark, shadowy homeworld to begin a new life on the bright sphere of Symphonia. They were the Elves, people entwined with the power of mana, who could call on it to command the very elements, and who would call on it to bridge the gap between Derris Kharlan and their future.

They were all tense, anxiously looking around at one another in between checking a rechecking the precious plants and seeds they would be taking with them. Most precious of all though was the seeding tree, cradled with the utmost care by the elven woman who had tended it since its germination just a few weeks before. Held in its engraved silver urn, set in soil sifted to be free of all stones and debris, the tiny Kharlan Tree shimmered faintly as if it too were aware of the momentous event about to take place. It was not the only one watching with bated breath, there was another also among the crowd who remained unseen, hidden from sight, sound, and magic by the will of that life-giving plant.

He stood at the elven woman's shoulder, a spectre who tentatively reached out from time-to-time to brush an ephemeral fingertip against one of the Tree's leaves, as if to reassure himself it was alright. He appeared little more than a boy, a mere child clothed in a blue robe of deepest midnight; his strange red eyes vivid beneath the tresses of leaf-green hair that crowned his head. Those eyes held a hint of fear, fear of what was about to happen... Fear of the unknown place he would soon be forced to journey to. The Tree had created him, him born of its spirit to be its protector just as all Kharlan Trees did at the moment of their birth. Wherever it went, he would follow, that was how it was fated to be.

The Elves began to move and the woman carrying the Tree followed them, the boy hurrying after her with his bare feet whispering silently over the purple stone of the ground. The violet clouds above were beginning to swirl, to reach out towards that distant sphere, forming a bridge that would carry them away from the world which despite the plenitude of mana the darkness of it was slowly killing them... If they stayed the Elves would become a dying race, doomed to eventual extinction. This was likely their last chance; if it should be missed there might not be enough of them left to try again the next time their home's comet-like path would bring them this close to a new beginning.

The boy became even more frightened, his red eyes darting frantically back and forth between his Tree and the trail of mana streaming out across space. He could sense the bridge was wavering; if they tried to cross while it was unsteady his Tree would be destroyed. Closing his eyes he clasped his hands, reaching out with his young strength to grip the mana and stabilise it...

The bridge became solid, the flow of mana in its heart like the swift flow of a river carrying all who stepped into it to the lands so far away...

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It was barren... A land scoured by unforgiving winds, devoid of mana. The Elves looked to the ashen sky, to the purple sphere that was the world they had just abandoned. Mana still flowed through the bridge but soon that would fail... When it did, they would die if the Tree were not planted...

They scattered, searching for a place suitable for the precious plant in the silver urn. It couldn't be placed just anywhere, the spot needed to be free of large rocks, the soil loose enough for it to spread its roots swiftly. Urgent shouts echoed back and forth, until eventually a cry of triumph sent the woman carrying the Tree rushing towards the source.

She climbed the long slope of a hill which rose from the undulating plain, the boy still close and unseen behind her. There at its peak a cluster of her fellows stood around a patch of earth that may as well have been made for the purpose. Hurrying forward, she bid the gathered elves to dig, a hole swiftly appearing in the soil. She then dropped carefully to her knees, lifting the Tree from its basin of earth and setting it in place, her fingers tenderly covering its roots as she whispered.

"Kharlan Tree Ratarani, this is your home now. Watch over us in this new place, and breathe life into this barren world."

The boy stared at the scene, uncertain, until a voice whispered in his mind.

_Guide my power across this lifeless land, and hold true its balance within all living things I am to create. Do as others of your kind have long done on the world of Derris Kharlan, and watch over this world as has been asked of me..._

Calm settled over the boy, who once again clasped his hands and closed his eyes. The air around the Tree began to tremble, its leaves and branches blazing with power as a great wave of mana rushed outwards over the land. Red eyes snapped open as the boy tilted his head to the sky, his silent cry of exultation ringing out. Blades of grass shot forth from the rolling plains, a distant border ring of young trees bursting forth around the plain, and more distant still as the mana circled the world, yet more forests and plains of grass, and innumerable living things came into being.

Ice capped distant mountains, fire raged deep in the earth, waters flowed into great rivers and lakes, as winds stirred the surface of oceans and caressed the now living earth. Too came golden sunlight as ashen sky became richest blue, blue that would become deep sapphire studded by stars and moon in the depths of the night. He felt it all, every blade of grass and flutter of insect's wing, and in them all he sensed the mana and brought it into balance. He too felt the stirrings of other powers, Great Spirits rising from oblivion to preside over the eight elements, creation, and birth now risen to life in this world, and when those powers did whisper their oaths to the Tree he did hear them, but they not he. He was destined for a different fate than they, a fate tied to the deepest will of the Tree that was as Mother to him.

He lowered his head, a trace of weariness making him sigh as he walked towards his Tree, which in giving life to this world was no longer the tiny seedling from the urn but a firm sapling twice the height of a man. He couldn't give it strength enough to grow more than that, his Soul Link to it was just one thread of light amidst the strength it would have taken to bring the tree to full growth in a single day. Sitting down beside it, he leaned his head against its trunk as the Elves moved away to begin celebrating their new beginning. It was happy, singing softly to him in sweetest lullaby as it also did to the tiny lives he sensed deep in a nearby lake.

He smiled... Those lives were the first to be made, made to live and change and grow; from water, to sky, to land, and then to something in between, before all that came before would be theirs to live as they willed. Those lives would watch over the lands, and the Elves, by their love of the Tree that had created them. It would create more of them in time, he knew, but for now there were but a handful in those waters, who whispered their names to one another as they eagerly set about exploring the reaches of the waters that were for now their home.

Sighing again he closed his eyes, drifting into slumber for he were but a child who had done much this day. Thus as he drifted off into dreams, the Tree murmured in his mind with gentlest pride.

_You did well, Ratatosk... my child..._

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**Alaia Skyhawk: (Grins) Hey, for a random idea this thing has really gripped my attention. Hehehe, expect an update soon.**


	2. Childish Curiosity

**Alaia Skyhawk: Expect cuteness early on, though things will get darker in a few chapters time. Now though, now is time for fluff :D**

**Note, up until chapter 3 there will be very little dialogue. It just plotted out that way, so the chapters will only be short up until more speech comes in... and I hate to disappoint, but Ratatosk himself won't utter a word until chapter 6. It's so cute to write from his POV, but without him actually speaking. XD**

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**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

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Chapter 2: Childish Curiosity

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His laughter drifted on the wind, unheard by the elves nearby as he danced over the grass. He'd never known sunshine before, not that he'd been alive that long to have encountered it. His innocence knew no bounds as his red eyes sparkled with happiness, happiness that turned to curiosity as he knelt down to peer at one of the many tiny flowers that poked up among the swaying stems that reacted not to his presence.

He prodded at the flower, tiny white petals arrayed around a yellow centre like a sun with white rays radiating outwards. It didn't matter that he already 'knew' this flower and its fellows having balanced the mana within them, it was the first time he'd taken a close look at them with his own eyes and wondered at the beauty of it.

Smiling he got up, eyes moving to latch onto the erratic fluttering of a nearby butterfly. Walking over to it he watched it, following it even when it fluttered well above the ground. Standing on air where he'd stepped up as though it were a staircase, he held out a hand and continued to smile as the creature briefly alighted on his fingertips. He could not cease to find wonder in everything the Tree had created, his child-like nature allowing him to find happiness in even these simple things. Summon Spirit he might have been, his nature would mature as his Tree did, taking him though childish games onwards to the calm observation of an adult. He was free to revel in his youth though, for it would be several centuries before his Tree reached it's full size. For now he could play in this new world, and delight in all he would see.

He looked around from his lofty perch, gaze sweeping over the nearby sea of tents that housed the thousands of elves. They'd marked out fields, fields the Tree had filled with crops that would flourish in this bright sunlit world. Many of the plants brought from Derris Kharlan would dislike full sunlight, hence their being brought as seeds carefully preserved until a suitable place was found for them. Others were too large to bring as grown plants, like the flowers that puffed out gusts of wind when they were healthy. Ratatosk remembered those flowers, there had been some in the garden of the woman who had tended the Tree. He'd spent a full afternoon during his first week of life simply hovering in the air over one of the flowers, letting the gusts ruffle his hair.

He frowned for a moment, thoughtful. Where was that woman now? He'd not seen her since she planted the Tree, and surely after taking such good care of it while it had been in the urn she'd come back to check on it. He floated back down to the grass, trotting through it in the direction of the elven settlement while high in the sky above the purple sphere where he'd been born was no longer there. He didn't really think about it now, as frightened as he'd been to leave it. His mind was too young and flighty to hold onto yearning for a place he'd known for but a few short weeks. What his mind yearned for now was learning, and understanding of this world he'd been bid watch over.

Skipping through the long grass, he continued to smile as he hummed to himself unheard by the elves he passed in the fields. Even if he'd wanted them to know he was there, the Tree wouldn't allow them to. He was its secret, just like all other Tree Spirits were kept secret by their trees. In these early years it would protect _him_, and once the Tree was fully grown and his power and form mature, _he_ would protect it.

He reached the settlement, eyes never ceasing to move from one face to another. It had been over a year since curiosity had brought him into the town, he'd slept from weariness for most of a year after balancing the mana for the first time. Now nearing the end of their third year on this new world, the elves had wasted no time at all in making up their numbers. Every woman he saw had a toddler or a baby in tow, the children bright and healthy as young elves on Derris Kharlan had not been for many generations. On that purple sphere most were born sickly, prone to illness, with few making it to adulthood. But where Derris Kharlan's darkness had been slowly killing them, here the bright sunlight nurtured them. As they'd hoped, their immigration had saved them, and just as he found delight in everything, so Ratatosk delighted in their happiness.

He wandered through the town, searching for the presence of the woman. It took him some time to find her, with so many new lives close by, but when he did he broke out into a joyful grin and hurried over to her. She was sat in a garden behind what must have been her canvas home, smiling as she listened to the happy chortles of the baby in her lap. Ratatosk stood at her shoulder, as he had done that day they'd departed Derris Kharlan, and he looked over it at the child. Bright green eyes were fixed on a silver pendant that dangled on a fine chain from her neck, the item square with scrolling patterns on its edges. Peering at it Ratatosk didn't know what it was, but he could sense it was special.

He stayed there, watching her care for her child; feeding it, cleaning it when it cried, and singing to it as she rocked it to sleep. He sang too, humming with his silent voice in harmony to that lullaby. It was his thanks to her for tending the Tree, and bringing him to this world so full of bright promise and hope. It began to grow dark, the woman checking the herbs in her garden one last time before she retreated into her tent with her baby. Reassured that she was fine, that the reason she hadn't visited was because she was caring for her baby, Ratatosk returned to the Tree and sat himself once more at its base, gazing up at the darkening sky with awe as the stars blinked into life... one by one.

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**Alaia Skyhawk: Well, the next chapter is sure to get a few laughs. I think I'll write it next then do another chapter on Restoration. Happy reading :D**


	3. Hide and Seek

**Alaia Skyhawk: Time for some chuckles XD**

**Note; the Summon Spirits don't have temples yet, so they're just wandering their lands.**

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**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

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Chapter 3: Hide and Seek

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He wasn't sure when the impulse struck him, or when the idea first occurred to him. He'd spent all of the past five years purely within the confines of the immense meadow-like plain where the Tree stood, never straying far from it and the security the Tree represented. He'd been sat, looking up at the sky as agile little birds swooped in dived catching insects, when he decided to go up there himself. A flick of his power sent him instantly from the ground up into the sky, and stood there upon the winds he saw for the first time the world stretching out in all directions around him. He was so high the horizon curved in his view, mountains, forests, and a glimmer of distant sea all there for him to gaze upon. He'd never been to those places; for all he 'knew' them by their mana, he'd never set foot there.

Staring for a moment longer, he fixed his gaze on the mountains to the west and called his power again. The blink of an eye later and he was stood on one of them, marvelling at the rugged and steep terrain that was so different from the meadow. He began to poke around, hopping over rocks and watching the animals that lived among them. There was so much to see! It was almost too much to take in!

He continued to explore, completely entranced and oblivious to the time that had passed until he realised it was getting dark. Suddenly anxious, he quickly teleported back to the Tree and huddled at its base. Maybe he would explore a bit more tomorrow.

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Enquiring red eyes watched as the tiny grains were stirred and shifted by the winds, the nose below them inches from the sand the owner was observing. Ratatosk had gained a lot of confidence in the past few weeks, roaming further and further from the Tree until now he didn't retreat to it when the area he was in fell into night. He'd not been back to the meadow in three days, and was now in fact on the opposite side of the world from it. When he'd found the desert he'd been entranced by the rolling dunes of shifting sand, which erased the deliberate footprints he made on them in minutes as he watched. This place looked as though it should have been devoid of life, and yet he could sense myriad tiny creatures everywhere. He followed his senses to each of them, finding snakes and lizards, and huge beetles that tried to hide from the swift little foxes that came out at night to hunt them using huge ears and sharp hearing. He found one of the fennecs, just nosing its way out of its burrow as night fell, and given the way it blinked at him it clearly didn't know what to think of the child watching it. It seemed the Tree had decided to let the creature see him.

Ratatosk grinned, finding one of the beetles the creature liked and holding out to it waving frantic legs. It could be supposed that it was cruel to just hand the beetle over instead of give it a chance to escape from the fennec, but then it had been so close to the burrow the fox would have found it anyway.

The fennec pricked its ears, dark little eyes fixed on the insect as it warily crept towards him. As it got closer through, it seemed to sense the kindness and calm he radiated, ceasing to creep and instead confidently plucking the beetle from his fingers. It sat right next to him as it ate it, before nosing his leg to see if he had any other food before it darted off into the growing darkness. Ratatosk just watched it go, following it with his mind until another far larger and powerful presence caught the edge of his attention.

He teleported, feeling the Tree's protective barrier obscure him from the world again as he approached the new focus of his interest. When he found it, his eyes went wide with awe as he stared at the Spirit he'd found.

The great red wraith glided silently through the air over the sands, a faint glow cast from him onto the dunes beneath him. Piercing blue eyes regarded the area around them as one would regard a familiar view, the being comfortable in this his domain.

Ratatosk let out a breath of wonder as he watched Efreet, knowing him to be the Summon Spirit who had sworn to serve the Tree as the Lord of Fire Mana. His body unmoving, his eyes followed that silent passage before sudden childish impulse pushed awe aside and tugged at the child Spirit with mischievous intent. He teleported so he was upwind of the Spirit of Fire, and used his power to lift a bucket's worth of sand up from the dune he was stood on and tossed it into the air. The wind carried it, and as Ratatosk had intended it scattered it over the unsuspecting Spirit.

Efreet stopped, looking around puzzled until he shrugged and kept going, presuming the sand to have been thrown by an errant gust of wind. Ratatosk however teleported away, appearing on a mountain top where he burst into peals of laughter at his new 'game'. Still giggling from the success of his prank, he reached out with his mind and located the rest of the Elemental Spirits before teleporting to them, one-by-one...

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She strode gracefully over the surface of the lake, red eyes like calm gems set into a face of soft blue. Undine smiled, her mind cast out to feel the falling of distant rain and the surging of the seas. All was well in her domain, all was as it should be.

The water gave way beneath her, plunging her unexpectedly into its depths. She rose back to the surface, unaffected by her dunking but certainly puzzled by it. What had pulled the water mana from under her?

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The three sisters darted about in the air, chasing one another with shouts of laughter at the aerial game of tag. The green haired one of the trio pulled aside, hovering on her three pairs of feathered wings as she watched her blue and pink haired sisters continue to chase one another. Settling herself onto the top of a nearby tree, she stood enjoying the breeze until a sudden miniature gale ripped past her drawing squawks of surprise from her sisters.

Sephie turned and looked, blinking at the sight of a cursing Yutis and Fairess entangled together in the branches of another of the trees.

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The blond woman sighed, laid comfortably into the curve of the crescent upon which she perched. Her bird-like partner was perched on a cliff ledge nearby, and the two of them rested content in the rays of the sun.

There was a clatter of stone on stone, followed by a squawk as one of Aska's two heads was hit by a falling rock. His feather's ruffling, he looked up with the other to find there was nothing above him, just cliff and open sky. His feathers settled, he and Luna resuming their basking before again he was hit by a rock. Indignant he took flight and fluttered to the top of the cliff, finding nothing there except grass and bushes, neither of which could throw them.

Grumbling to himself, he descended back to his ledge and perched there once more, Luna eyeing him puzzled until he shrugged and closed his red and blue eyes again. It was then, when his guard dropped once more, that a whole section of the cliff above him spontaneously crumbled and clattered down over him.

Covered in dust, as a last few rocks bounced off him during their descent, Aska could only sit in bemused silence while Luna began to chuckle.

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Icy blue eyes admired the dark haired reflection in their owner's mirror, Celsius regarding her reflection in the flawless sheet of ice she'd found cast upon the fractured edge of a glacier. That fracture was as flat as a becalmed lake, as smooth as unruffled silk; it showed her image with perfection, and she was pleased by what she saw.

Still admiring herself, she didn't notice right away the hair-fine cracks that were forming at the exact spot her face was reflected until the ice sheet shattered radiating outwards from that point...

They said some faces could shatter mirrors, but shatter her own ice?

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Ratatosk sat doubled up with laughter, rolling a little at the success of his drenching Volt with a rain shower and annoying Shadow with random noises in the confines of the cave he'd been in. Not one of the Summon Spirits had any idea that another Spirit had been having fun at their expense, nor would they ever know given he was hidden from them. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, he teleported; this time into the cave where Gnome resided.

Gnome lay on his side on a rock, snoring loud enough to make nearby rocks rattle, and eyeing him Ratatosk wondered what he would do to _this_ Spirit. He began to float over, forming an idea that was dropped when he spotted the five little figures tottering around close to the Spirit of Earth. Curious, Ratatosk glided unseen towards them, hovering just above them with a wicked grin slowly spreading across his face as he reached out with a finger...

"Hey, who poked me?!"

The little red-hatted Gnomelette spun around, glaring at his fellows as the one with the blue hat looked at him confused.

"Huh? Big Brother, no one poked you."

Big Brother frowned.

"But I felt something poke me." He flinched, spinning to face the green-hatted Gnomelette who had been stood behind him to his left... the direction he'd just been poked. "I just got poked again! You did it!"

Again he got a stare.

"No I didn't."

"Did!"

"Didn't."

"DID!"

"DIDN'T!"

"_DID!!!_"

The two Gnomelettes began to squabble, the other three looking on in bemusement before one of them was poked as well.

"Who poked me?!"

"I didn't..."

"Yes you _did!_"

Gnome spluttered awake, knocked from his rock as the five Gnomelettes below it exploded into a full-on catfight among themselves while their creator lay perched on his head on the opposite side of it.

"What the heck just happened?"

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He returned to the Tree, bubbling with laughter which he felt the Tree echo as it sensed from his mind what he'd been up to even as he also sensed it tell him that he wasn't to play that 'game' again. Once was alright, but he wasn't to bother the other Spirits anymore as he was meant to be secret from them.

A little disappointed, but accepting of the new rule, Ratatosk sat at the Tree's base and ran through in his mind all the looks he'd seen on the other Spirits' faces.

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**Alaia Skyhawk: (Is laughing) Heheheh, I couldn't resist this with Ratatosk being so innocent at this point. The idea of him being undetectable to them just begged for this to happen XD**


	4. Shattered Youth

**Alaia Skyhawk: Well, cute stuff is over for now... here's the inevitable beginning of what's to come.**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

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Chapter 4: Shattered Youth

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Happy humming drifted silently on the winds, the young Spirit singing along in happy counterpoint to the song of his Tree. Seven years... Seven more years had passed in his simple life, flowing by with nary a waver in his day-to-day activities. He still indulged in exploring now and then, but as yet still preferred to stay close to the comforting voice of the Kharlan Tree. While above the ground here in this meadow it was barely a few inches taller than it had been after it was planted, he could feel its roots now spread across the entirety of the world.

Ratatosk stopped humming, looking up at the sky from his perch upon one of the Tree's branches. It was midday, time for him to make his daily check of the mana levels. He resumed humming, swinging his legs too and fro as he idly ran through the various areas in his mind. Everything from rocks to trees, to people passed beneath the veil of his awareness, the latter having increased greatly since the Summon Spirit Origin had indulged in some creation of his own. Humans and Dwarves had been added to the list of species on this world, although as yet the Elves knew not of their existence. Both had been created far away on continents distant from this vast meadow, and the now substantial elven town within it. He checked it all, every inch of the world, pausing only once when a tiny area of instability needed to be corrected. He was used to finding little bits now and then, and the correction was done absently before he dropped to the ground and set off towards the town.

He smiled as that small blot in the mana was smoothed away, his mind turning his attention back to his typically childish musings. He would watch the Lady's daughter again today, before going to take another look at the scattering of villages where the newly created Humans lay on the continent to the south. They'd looked a lot like the elves, but without pointy ears, and he'd gotten the feeling they were different in other ways as well. He wanted to observe them for longer than his last visit, to try and figure out how Origin had made them different from the immigrated Elves.

It wasn't long before he reached the town, familiarity now leading him to the home where the Lady lived. Her daughter was outside in the grassy area among the homes, playing some sort of game involving jumping over a rope that was swung round and round while singing songs. Ratatosk wanted to try that game someday, but because he was secret for now he could only watch and sing along silently with them. He was just finishing a verse on one of his favourite of the game songs when he frowned as a ripple reached his awareness. Reaching out to locate the source, he found a small instability again at the place he'd corrected just a short while before. Still frowning he fixed it, before once again he turned his attention back to the girl and her friends. He never tired of this, watching them play. He might not have been able to join in, but he could still laugh along with them, smile with them, even if he remained unseen and unheard. It gave him a feeling of being part of their lives, instead of being separate as secrecy forced him to be. He'd begun to feel a little lonely at times, but these days of watching the Lady's daughter play, and the songs of the Tree, brushed those feelings away like a warm breeze.

All too soon night began to fall, the elven children returning to their homes as Ratatosk returned to his amongst the branches of the Tree. The evening song began among the insects in the grasses, soft chirring heralding the time of rest and slumber. It was a magic all of itself, the night, one that Ratatosk now revelled in as surely as the brightness of the day. Feeling the creatures of this shadowed time begin to rise to go about their nightly business, he continued to smile contentedly before he stopped in his tracks, his expression frozen in sudden confusion.

The instability had come back, again, in the exact same spot as the first two times. He frowned and firmly gripped the mana in that area and put it back how it should be, only for it to return bare minutes later like a reeking corpse in the back of his mind. Growing inpatient he grabbed the mana again and slammed it back into line... before with a choked gasp he felt something push him back spreading taint in its wake.

The Tree cried out, as the taint brushed the edge of the root that lay close to the instability, Ratatosk teleporting away from the meadow with only the thought of protecting his mother in his mind. He appeared at the area of the taint, and what he saw terrified him as he had never been in his short life.

A dark rent split the earthen ground, a vile pit in the fabric of dimensions from which creatures of nightmare spewed into the air and across the land. Grasses withered as they passed, animals and insects either crushed by the taint or twisted by it into abominations themselves. In those few moments after he'd arrived Ratatosk could only stare in horror at what he knew was an invasion of his world, frozen in place until the Tree's pained cry at the spread of the taint spurred him into action.

The Demons all stopped and looked up as one, towards the point where white light began to blaze around a small form. A chorus of hisses and shrieks rose as they turned as one to attack, only for those calls to turn into wails of agony as a wall of pure mana was sent sweeping over them in a purifying wave. The Demons were vaporised, poisoned then destroyed by the mana as it touched them. The first wave of creatures gone, new ones began to emerge from the rift while Ratatosk called up the mana again and slammed it downwards through the rent in the world.

The ground shuddered at the force, an immense depression imprinted on this ground at the island's peak like a vast bowl. Teleporting to its centre, to where the rift now shone white with the purity he'd pushed through it, Ratatosk entered it and began to descend with fearful eyes at what he found within.

This place, it was like a bridge between worlds... a point in existence that was neither Symphonia nor the corrupt realm from which the creatures were coming. Roots from above were beginning to reach down through it, the Tree helping to bring the mana that was clearly deadly to these beings to this place for its child to use. Ratatosk gripped that mana, weaving it into a wall that he pushed ever downwards towards the misty bottom of this pocket of time and space and letting it destroy all the taint it touched... but defeating the smaller creatures that had risen upwards did not prepare him for the colossal beasts below.

Terror rose again, Ratatosk forced upwards by the blow of one such beast on his barrier of mana, the demon hundreds of times his size glaring at him with malevolent red eyes. More such colossuses were ranged beyond it, dozens of them extending back to some distant point where he felt the taint was at its strongest.

He couldn't move, couldn't move for the fear that gripped him. He was just a child, a child thrown into the face of forces that would have scared him even as an adult. What could he do? He was so small, and all alone.

The demon struck out again, again forcing Ratatosk into retreat only this time the barrier moved back beyond one of the descending roots. The taint beyond the barrier touched it, the Tree's peal of agony jarring the child Spirit into action. His mother... he _had_ to protect his mother!

Ratatosk screamed in rage, slamming his barrier forward even as he sent blasts of mana ahead of it. The colossal demons began to shriek as they were killed by the onslaught one by one, the Spirit leaving only their scorched bones in his wake as he forced his way towards that point of blackness he could sense beyond the luminescent grey mists. More and more power he threw at them, more and more of them falling defeated only for others to emerge from the mist to take their place. It seemed never ending, the constant stream of foes whittling away at his strength until some hours later he staggered and was pushed back.

Ratatosk grimaced, forcing his barrier forward to regain his lost ground, while beyond it the demons began to call out in bloodlust as they sensed him begin to falter... There were too many of them, and he didn't have the strength to fight them forever...

Pushed back again, again he forced his way forwards, his form beginning to blur at its edges, prompting a wail from the Tree.

_Stop! Make a door! Close it, bar it, and proceed no further my child! If you continue you will DESTROY yourself!_

Ratatosk froze, eyes going wide as the warning made him aware of his wavering body. He looked down at hands that were becoming translucent and grey, before with a blast of will he did as he was bidden. His wall off white mana solidified into a golden wall, reaching out across the width of the pocket dimension and bound into place by the roots of the Tree. Set into that, wall, forming around him, grew a sphere of the same. The demons, unable to touch the wall of mana, could only focus on the source of the barrier now housed within that protective sphere, and inside it Ratatosk set himself upon the platform he made within and called an arch of power into existence as a gilded span of golden cords. They too became solid, a visible doorway set in air beyond which smouldering shadows oozed through the iris opening in the part of the golden sphere that extended beyond the wall.

Ratatosk reached out his hands towards that river of taint, and with one last exhausted thought he focused his entire mind upon it and slammed the iris closed...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: Poor Ratatosk, a child forced to fight monsters all alone (sniffles)**


	5. Frail Opposition

**Alaia Skyhawk: Man I feel SO sorry for Ratatosk right now... poor kid**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 5: Frail Opposition

-

He sat there in the dim light, huddled on his knees before the filigree span that represented the point where his will kept the demons from entering this passage to his world. Constant pounding hammered through the confines of this sphere, every one of them causing the boy before the arch to flinch in the pain of the effort it took to keep the door closed. Ratatosk trembled, shaking uncontrollably before the forces striving to taint and subvert Symphonia... while out in that world itself the mana began to go awry...

Feeling those distant mana levels twist and waver, leaving disasters in their wake, he reached out for one bare moment to restore them before with a moan of agony he returned his full power to the door that had begun to open in that moment of distraction. So far he'd prevented any disasters from occurring in the areas where the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves lived, the Races oblivious to the fact they were so close to destruction. The only problem was that every time he fixed the mana the door would begin to open... and every time it did it became a little harder to close...

Two weeks... it had only been two weeks since he'd created this door to protect Symphonia and the Tree, and even now it was slowly and inexorably slipping from his grip. He was too young, too frail, to maintain the effort against the power of the demons beyond... He was just a child, not yet into his full power, and woefully lacking in knowledge and experience... It was no use, he couldn't do it; he couldn't keep them out forever...

Hands clenched where they rested on the golden floor of his platform, Ratatosk continued to shake as he was forced once again to correct the mana beyond the rift, and once again had to struggle to close the door again. How many more times could he do this? How much longer could he last before his strength gave out? He didn't know, but he knew it wouldn't be long...

A single clear droplet fell into his lap, followed by another and another as he began to cry. Sat there in desperation, unable to move even as the tears streamed down his face, the child Spirit sobbed before wailing.

"Mother! Mother!" His lip trembled, his red eyes full of pain and fear as he whimpered. "Mother, I can't do it... I can't do this alone! I can't! The mana! I-I can't control it _and _keep the door closed! N-Not on my own! ...Mother..."

He continued to sob, still flinching with every drumbeat of doom that pulsed through the chamber. After a moment, he felt a tiny strand of power curl protectively around him as the Tree's distant voice brushed his mind.

_Do as I did... I cannot create the mana and both change it to the Elements. I created the Greater Elemental Summon Spirits to fulfil that role, and so must you now create agents who will monitor the mana of those elements for you. Through them your power will create balance, leaving you free to focus on the door..._

Ratatosk lifted his head, his once vibrant locks of pale-green hair now lank and dull.

"But I'm so tired... I don't have the strength anymore... I would need so many of them..."

_Then I will create lesser agents for you, if you create servants who will take mastery and command over them... Let those servants be your Centurions, the generals who hold command over the rest of your servants in your stead..._

The boy remained silent for a moment, before nodding tiredly.

"Yes... Yes, I have strength enough for that... I'll create one for each of the Eight Elements, if you will create creatures able to sense and control mana for each of them as well."

The Tree's next whisper, which came after a seemingly endless pause, brought a glint of hope to the young Spirit's eyes.

_It is done... I have created the flora and fauna you have requested. Now create the Centurions who will lead them!_

It was with agonising slowness that Ratatosk forced himself to his feet, still shaking from his already gargantuan efforts. Stood there before the arch of the door, he lifted his hands to his chest as if to cradle something, a scarlet crystal sphere containing an emblem appearing in his grasp. Regarding it for a moment, he closed his eyes and murmured quietly.

"...From the core of my power I bid thee rise and take a fragment of it. Make that a core of your own, bound to mine so that your strength feeds back to me. For the Eight Elements I create you, and bid you bind the servants made for you and add their strength to yours. Be my eyes in the world, so that I am free to hold this door closed and protect it..."

His core seemed to shatter for a moment, a spray of shards in the air that reassembled itself with no visible damage despite the fact that eight of the shards now drifted outwards towards the arch. Each shard grew, the eight turning into crystal spheres each the colour of an element and each containing a unique emblem to define them from each other even as their similarity proclaimed the source from which they had come.

Once all eight were the same size as the core they had come from, eight new voices resonated as one within the chamber.

_We are the Centurions, and we give our aid to you, Lord Ratatosk. We will take command of the monsters as you have instructed, and now give the strength of our will to forge the seal on the Door._

The Cores blazed, power streaming out from each to create a replica of each suspended in the air beneath the arch. Seeing them, Ratatosk sent his own power out and set a replica of his own Core at the heart of the pattern, golden strands like those of the arch forming around and linking all nine together. Once it was complete, the pounding in the air stopped...

Ratatosk staggered, gasping in relief as the pressure of the demon's assault was forced into submission by the new seal. Catching his breath as he stood there, taking note that even with the seal his strength continued to decline, he looked up as eight cores continued to blaze and spoke to his servants.

"...Go, forge the bonds with your monsters and stabilise the mana for me... before I can't stop the taint from beyond anymore. You've bought me time, but only with your help can I continue to hold this door."

The Cores vanished, as the Centurions' voices whispered in reply.

_...It will be done..._

Once again alone in the chamber, Ratatosk sank to the floor once more and curled into a ball... whimpering again before slowly drifting into exhausted slumber.

"...I'm so tired... so tired... and alone..."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Eight streaks of light radiated outwards from the great depression at the island's peak, each streaking towards the area where they felt their element resonated most strongly. Far below them they could sense the creatures they were to command, tendrils of power showering down in their wake to bind those creatures to their will...

The Core of palest blue reached its destination first, the frigid islands to the north, flaring to become a blue-grey wolf whose form was traced in strands of purest white. Standing there, its howling call spurred its new servants into action.

"I am Glacius! Go my servants, restore the true balance of Ice!"

Next to arrive, on the continent where the Tree resided, the Core that blazed violet became a great purple eagle that crackled with shards of lightning.

"I am Tonitrus! Go my servants, restore the true balance of Lightning!"

Far to the distant south, the black Core became a cloud of shadow from which a black cat traced in purple emerged and sent out his command.

"I am Tenebrae! Go my servants, restore the true balance of Darkness!"

One by one the other Centurions reached their chosen areas, each calling out their first command. The serpent-like Solemn in the rocky mountains of the continent he partly shared with Tenebrae. Ignus, the fiery dragon, in the scorching desert of the world's second cluster of continents. At those lands' eastern edge the blue and black maiden, Aqua, with her cat-like ears and fishtail hair gazed out across the seas, while far north of her winds swirled around the feathered wings of the pegasus Ventus. Lastly, west of him, light coalesced into the gleaming golden eagle that was Lumen, her piercing cry heralding the movements of her monsters at her command.

Ice and Lightning, Darkness and Earth, Fire and Water, Wind and Light... Eight Centurions, eight elements, and the monsters attuned to them began the measured dance of influence that would balance to the mana of the world... While deep within the rift between worlds, a young Spirit sighed softly in his slumber as power radiated from his Centurions and flowed back to him...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: There you have it, the creation of the Centurions.**


	6. Help for the Besieged

**Alaia Skyhawk: And so the beginning of everything weaves into the whole that is to come. Time for the next important appearance to occur.**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 6: Help for the Besieged

-

He wasn't sure how many weeks it had been, how long since his newly created Centurions had gone out into the world and begun the task of spreading and balancing the mana for him. Time had lost all meaning to him now, numb in his continued exhaustion. The respite he'd had in those initial days had been short lived, the monsters and his Centurions managing at first, but their stamina dwindling under the strain of doing what he himself had done so absently in the time before. What he had had the innate ability to do with ease, they were forced to learn and do with only barest experience. Time... all the creation of the Monsters and Centurions had done was buy time, and both he and the Tree knew it.

Ratatosk closed his eyes, despair in his voice as he spoke to the Tree.

"I've failed, Mother... Even with the Centurions and the Monsters, I can't control the mana and the door at the same time... If I correct the mana myself to help them the door will open, and I'm not sure I've the strength now to close it again..."

There might once have been fear in his voice, but now his exhaustion ran too deep for him to be aware of it if he did. His childish innocence had been shattered, crushed beneath the task of keeping the demons out of his world.

Far off in the distant meadow, the Tree also despaired that its child had to suffer so much. How were the Elves to know that here on this world, a world devoid of mana, a distortion in space existed that led to a realm of beings to which mana was poison... How also were they to know that the introduction of mana on this side would cause those beings to seek a way through to subvert and corrupt this threat to their existence?

Coming to its decision, the Tree spoke to the Spirit.

_I have pondered such this past moon, and believe I may have a solution. Hold fast, My Child, and I will create one final force to aid you. This will be my last effort, for even I begin to tire after creating so much so swiftly. Hold the door, and help will come soon._

Ratatosk nodded tiredly, too exhausted to really take note of what had been said. All hope had been crushed for him, crushed like the dreams of breezes and sunshine that had been his life before the rift had spilled taint into the world.

In its meadow the Tree silently cried, even as it reached out to do something it deeply regretted it had to do. It reached out to the nearby elven town, and sent its voice shimmering through the air causing all in the town to stop and look in the direction of the hill where it stood.

_Descendants of Derris Kharlan, leave this place! Leave for there is something I would do that your presence would endanger. I do not ask this lightly of thee, but it must be done, and swiftly! Go south, to the hills and plains beyond the forest borders! You must hurry!_

All of the elves stood there in shock, confused and puzzled by the command. There would be no denying it though, for the Tree's presence seemed to begin looming over them, pressing down on them in its urgency... It would not be taking no for an answer.

Children began to cry, while parents rushed to pack everything possible into wing packs. In the space of an hour fifteen thousand elves departed southwards, leaving behind them a town of vacant and empty buildings whose gardens would soon be obscured by the grasses of the plains they'd been hewn from. The Tree watched them go, full of regret. It had forced them to move at a time they'd not been really ready to move beyond the meadow. It also knew they would worry for it, for without them to hold off the worse of the world's weather the winter storms could seriously harm it... The Tree, however, had planned for that.

It waited, waited until a full week had passed and the elves were far beyond the range to sense what it was about to do. Sure that no external influence would harm its new creations, the Tree reached into the earth around its hill and conjured forth a ring of around two hundred strangely leafless trees. Each tree bore a single immense bud within its crown, and one by one those buds opened into cream coloured blossoms from which each a single figure stood tall.

The figures all turned, all of them appearing identical to the Humans created by Origin but for two things. All of them bore green tendrils on shoulders, elbows, and the sides of their faces, and all of them had luminescent crystalline segmented wings. All of their eyes remained on the Tree as it began to sing the Song of Bonding, tying them all to its own spirit before commanding them to take flight.

_Go my children! Fly swift to where I would have yea place the Sentinels I have created. Guide them in distributing the mana so that life may continue to live on this world! Go, young Alurannai! Hurry!_

All of this new race, the Alurannai, stooped to pick up a seed that had been inside the flower with them. Each of them then took flight and scattered to the winds, all but one who by some unknown impulse remained where he was until all of the other Alurannai had faded from sight among the clouds in the skies.

Pale amber eyes gazed uncertainly at the Tree, as the man uttered his first tentative words.

"Ratarani? What is it you wish of me?"

The Tree seemed to sigh, a hint of regret as it spoke.

_Go. Plant your Sentinel on an island far to the south-east. You will find a rift there, enter it, and lend your strength and support to the one you find in the depths... This is a deep burden I place on you, dear Yasin... that and a fate not of your choosing. Tell no one of it, it must remain secret, and may you forgive me when the import of that fate becomes clear to you. _

Yasin stared with wide eyes, sensing that he'd been told something very important to his future, but as yet too new to life to understand just what it was. He hesitated one last moment, before lurching skywards into shaky flight that improved as he grew accustomed to it.

"I will do as you ask, Ratarani."

He disappeared to the south-east, leaving the Tree alone as it created one last flower, high amongst the eaves of its own branches. When that azure blossom opened a man stepped out to gaze with solemn eyes at the world he was fated to watch over, fated to do so unawares that another had also just been given that task.

He stood there waiting, until the Tree whispered.

_Go east, my Son, to where the meadow's edge meets the trees. Walk that perimeter, and cast the power of your people's Bonds with me into the skies to hold back the ravages of the elements. If I am sustain this world, I will need protection from the seasons. Go, Narim Brethil Aurion, and complete this task with much haste!_

"As you wish, Mother."

The man, the first Narim of his race, took to the skies as was bidden, while behind his departing form the Tree fell silent as it considered all that it had just done.

_I create them to bear a burden, some with a harsher one than others. My son, Brethil, you and your descendants will be the Safeguard should I meet my demise in the future... And Yasin, like you your fellow alurannai may by their choosing escape the decay of time... but for you I have already made that decision... For the sake of the future, it had to be done... I'm sorry..._

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

The lands fell away beneath him, his glimmering golden wings propelling him swiftly upon the winds as he arrowed to the southeast. He didn't know why, but he was certain there was something odd. He felt like he was somehow stood still, while the rest of the world raced by around him. That utter stillness in his innermost centre confused him, and he just didn't know why.

Frowning at these strange thoughts, Yasin continued on this ordained path given to him. He knew not why he had been created, nor what reason was behind the urgent need to plant the seed he carried in the place he'd been told to. All he knew was that his name was Yasin, and that he was Alurannai... all else was a mystery to him.

Curious about this world into which he'd been born, he gazed down at the lands below and regarded them with wonder until they were eventually replaced by sea. He kept flying, smiling to himself in young awe at starlight glinting off waves when night came, and kept wondering as two more days and nights passed him by. By then he began to feel his destination calling to him, or rather the seed in his grip. The Tree's root it was destined to grow near was like a beacon in the distance, a beacon of living fire that surged up through the seed in the moments after he planted it in the ground of the island to which he'd been directed.

Stepping back as the Sentinel's branches shot skywards, Yasin gazed upon it's arrow-shaved silvery leaves even as he heard it begin to sing in joy of its life and purpose, mana pouring forth from it drawn from the Tree's root deep below the earth. This was what it was born to do, and even now he could sense the rejuvenation of the area around it. The land seemed to sigh in relief, but that sense did not include a strange flaw he could sense nearby.

Turning away from the Sentinel he followed that sense of strangeness, followed it all the way to the edge of a vast circular depression marked the earth. At its centre some miles away, he could see a gleam of white light, one that proved to be a rift in the air when he flew down to investigate. It was the rift the Tree had spoken of, the one he must enter and give help to the person he would find within.

Fearless in his ignorance, Yasin stepped into the rift and floated down through the air beyond, once again gazing around with the wonder of one new to existence. Thin tendrils of the Tree's roots twined downwards, tendrils he knew would one day be mighty stems thought which mana would flow and pulse like a river. For now though they were tender and young, much like him, and they shivered with the promise of new growth to come.

Silvery mists that were thick higher up began to thin, Yasin now going wide-eyed at the new sight he beheld before him when he reached the bottom of the rift.

Massive bones littered the floor of the rift, empty eye sockets staring out like an omen of what had happened here. He could sense that this place of purity had once been tainted, and that that taint sought to regain this place from somewhere nearby.

He fluttered his golden wings, once again following the faint tug of something different from the rest of what was here. It didn't take long for the vast golden wall to come into view, and the sphere embedded in its surface his obvious destination when he spotted the small opening in its side.

Now, for the first time in his days' long life, he felt the instinct to be cautious, edging slowly down the walkway within the sphere. The passage was only short, soon opening into a chamber whose far side was dominated by a golden arch and a filigree structure that held nine coloured orbs suspended. That sight held him transfixed at first, until with some surprise he spotted a green haired figure huddled at the base of it.

Ratatosk flinched, the nearby man's gasp waking him from his sleep. Blearily he turned and looked in the direction of the alurannai man, before those eyes widened in fear and he shuffled backwards against the base of the seal.

"Who's there?!"

Yasin tilted his head, confused. Why was a young boy here all alone? Was this boy the one who was supposed to help? Thinking it over, Yasin could only conclude that the boy _was_ the one.

"I.. I am Yasin Perelir... of the Alurannai. New born Offspring Race of the Giant Tree... It... sent me here, and told me to help and support the person I'd find."

His speech had been hesitant, as needed knowledge had risen up from the store of it imprinted deep in the Alurannai man's mind. Ratatosk didn't seem to notice though, it didn't matter given the hope those words brought to his eyes.

"...It... It sent you to be with me? So I wouldn't be alone?"

Yasin thought about it again, before nodding slowly.

"I think so... I'm new to life, and the Tree hasn't given me much knowledge yet other than what I am and my name."

Ratatosk smiled sadly.

"I'm young too... I'm Ratatosk, and I'm only ten, but I have to protect this world from the demons trying to get through this door I created to keep them out of this world." He gestured to the arch and the globe, before tilting his head as if noticing something. "Wait... there's something starting to spread mana for me... I can feel it, they're appearing like a ring moving outwards from the Tree."

Yasin frowned.

"The Sentinels? I brought a seed with me, and planted it near a root of the Tree where the Tree told me to... Mana started coming out from it after it grew bigger."

The child Spirit rose to his feet, strength visibly returning to him as his burden began to lessen.

"The Tree made something to spread the mana out for me? And people to look after those 'Sentinels'? I... I can feel it, my Centurions aren't having to work as hard to stabilise the mana... It's _working!_"

Yasin walked over to him, stopping at his side before pointing towards the entrance through which he'd come.

"Was it you who defeated all those things out there?"

Ratatosk nodded.

I had to... to protect the world." He bowed his head, looking lost. "I had to..."

In that moment it suddenly struck Yasin that this Summon Spirit, for he'd now identified in his sense that that is what this boy was, had the mind of the child he resembled... A mere boy had been forced to fight such evil, all alone?

He reached out, paternal instinct awakening in his adult body as he sat himself down beside the boy and drew him onto his lap. He then cradled Ratatosk, holding him close to comfort him.

"I'm with you now, you're not alone anymore. I'll keep watch over you, for as long as I have to."

Ratatosk looked surprised at first, before relaxing into Yasin's comforting embrace. Never before had the Spirit known why the elven children took such comfort from being in the arms of their parents, but now he understood. Yasin, for all that he was new to life, would be the parent who would watch over and guide him through the troubles and trials he would face. With Yasin at his side, he had nothing to fear.

Sighing with contentment in that grasp, as those thoughts settled into his once troubled mind, nightmares of demons pounding on the door faded.

"Don't leave me alone, not anymore... I don't want to be alone ever again... Father..."

Yasin's expression softened even further, as he smiled again.

"I'll always be here for as long as you need me, Ratatosk."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: Aww, so sweet. Yes Yasin, for all that he's only a few days old, has 'adopted' Ratatosk as a son... Basic reason he can do that, the Alurannai just created are all already adult, so parental instinct kicks in pretty quick when they're confronted with a child in need of protection. Ratatosk can't be with his 'Mother' for now, so Yasin is now his only source of close comfort, poor kid.**


	7. Alliance of Trust

**Alaia Skyhawk: I have to say 'poor Yasin' for this one... He's gonna get one HELL of a headache...**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 7: Alliance of Trust

-

The soft breathing of two people was the only sound in the chamber, one of those a young boy cradled in the protective embrace of the adult man who held him. Both had succumbed to sleep after that initial meeting between them, and both had slumbered now for quite some time.

Yellow eyes outlined in purple regarded the pair curiously, the black cat-like Centurion of Darkness not sure what to make of this 'adult' who he could clearly sense was barely a week of age.

"How peculiar..."

Still curious, the Centurion edged closer and closer, itching with excess energy now that all he had to do with the mana levels was fine-tune them in his home territory. All of the Centurions were now as full of energy as he was, but _they_ had remained in their regions... He however definitely took after the creature he resembled, lacking in experience as he was.

Elegant black nose now inches from the man's hair, the Centurion began to sniff, baffled by this creature he'd never seen the like of in his short existence. He looked a lot like a human, but wasn't one. He was almost as attuned to mana as a monster, but wasn't one of those either. Just what was he?

The Centurion inched closer, nose now _touching_ the man's hair, that slight brush and the intrusion enough to trigger an instinctive response the hapless Centurion had no idea the man was capable of.

Yasin's amber eyes snapped open, flicking sharply to look back over his shoulder as a focused blast of mana was flung out from him. The poor Centurion was flung backwards, skidding to a stop to stare in abject shock as the treatment he'd just received.

"Who and what are you? What are you doing in here?"

Yasin's voice held a deadly edge that belied his youth. He was an adult Alurannai with a child to protect, and that meant if anything tried to harm the boy in his arms then whatever it was had best run for its life. Meanwhile the boy on his lap, jolted awake by the mana strike, turned his head to look at what his protector was shouting at before blinking in surprise.

"Tenebrae? What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be outside fixing the mana?"

The Centurion, Tenebrae, tilted his head.

"It _is_ fixed. The monsters across the world now have the mana levels in hand... So we Centurions have nothing to do now except keep an eye on them." He then slicked his ears back, a little uncertain. "Um... Lord Ratatosk... _Who_ is that man holding you?"

"Huh?" Ratatosk stared at his servant, before glancing at Yasin and back again. "This is Yasin; Mother sent him to watch over me and help me. He's a member of the new race Mother just created, the Alurannai... They and the Sentinels are what's spreading the Mana out for me now, so that you, the others, and the monsters can do the rest... Yasin, this is Tenebrae, one of my eight Centurions. They balance the mana for me, so I can concentrate on keeping this door closed."

The Alurannai man relaxed, taking a deep breath before frowning. His eyes went distant for a moment, before he began to murmur.

"The eight Centurions; Tenebrae, Lumen, Aqua, Tonitrus, Ventus, Solem, Ignus, and Glacius. One for each of the eight base magical elements, each with monsters of their type who collectively control the mana levels preventing them from rising too high."

Both Tenebrae and Ratatosk blinked, the former actually gawking.

"How did you know all that? A moment ago you didn't even know what a Centurion was!"

Yasin shook his head, confused.

"I... I just felt the knowledge rise up from somewhere in my mind... I think the Tree gave me more than I thought, it's just I'll only remember parts when I need to."

A black tail twitched, Tenebrae clearly baffled.

"But why would the Tree do it that way? What if you need to know something but don't remember it in time?"

"Tenebrae is right." Ratatosk looked up into Yasin's eyes, as the man looked down at him uncertain. The boy just smiled. "The Tree is my mother, so I can help you remember now _everything _the Tree has put in your mind for you to use."

He began to reach up with a hand, Yasin leaning back a little away from it as some gut feeling told him this might not be the best idea.

"I'm not so sure this is right, Ratatosk. Maybe I should just wait a while and..."

"It's fine, I know what I'm doing."

The Spirit touched his protector's forehead, a tiny spark of mana passing between the two... An instant later Ratatosk tumbled to the floor as Yasin lurched to his feet clutching his head, moaning in pain at the impact the released knowledge had had on his mind... _Everything_ the Tree knew, about all the world, all the technology of the elves... The Tree had placed _all_ of it inside Yasin's mind with the intent that it surface bit by bit, but Ratatosk had just removed the filter that held back was unnecessary for him to know at present.

Watching as Yasin continued to groan, Tenebrae lowered his head nervously and slunk to the Spirit's side.

"Um, I think _that_ might have been the reason..."

Eyes wide in horrified realisation that he'd just _hurt_ his 'father', Ratatosk got up and rushed over to Yasin, his voice frantic.

"Father? Father, are you ok? It's ok, isn't it? You'll be alright?"

Yasin opened his eyes, eyes now holding a light of knowledge they should not have had for several hundred years, and nodded hesitantly.

"Yes, I'll be alright once I've gotten used to all this... I wasn't supposed to learn so much so quick, so it hurts to have so much tumbling around my mind." He swallowed hard, wincing as his head continued to pound. "I know everything, Ratatosk. Everything the Tree knew at the time it created me, I know too." His expression became distant, and slightly fearful. "It didn't give a lot of this knowledge to the other Alurannai though, because they mustn't know about you and the Centurions... I also understand now why the Tree told me it was sorry."

He dropped to his knees, his bleak expression causing Ratatosk to reach out in concern.

"What do you mean?"

Yasin's tormented expression was almost answer enough.

"I don't age... I'll stay exactly as I am for all of eternity, and because I'm bonded to the Tree I can never end my existence without hurting it, something I would _never_ do. Even once you're all grown up and don't need me anymore, I'm trapped; forced to keep living on forever."

The boy gasped.

"Wait, you're Bonded to the Tree?" Yasin nodded, Ratatosk putting his arms around his adoptive parent and whispering fiercely. "Then I'll never stop needing you... If all the Alurannai I can now sense are Bonded to the Tree, those Bonds will make it grow a _lot _quicker than it would have with just _my_ Bond. That means I'll grow up fast too... If you're not just to watch over me while I'm growing up, which won't take long now, then the Tree must want you to _keep_ helping me even after that." Still hugging Yasin tightly, he then used a tendril of his power to send the man to sleep. "You're meant to watch over me, but I'll also watch over you when you need me to."

He lay Yasin down, Tenebrae coming to his side and murmuring.

"How long will you keep him asleep?"

The Spirit bit his lip, guilt for what he'd unintentionally done visible in his red eyes.

"Until I'm sure all that knowledge has settled in his mind. When I let him wake up, his head won't hurt anymore."

The Centurion sighed, his tail twitching.

"In that case I will return to my lands. Rest easy, Lord Ratatosk, the mana levels are now secure."

In a cloud of shadow he vanished, leaving the child Spirit alone to his thoughts. Looking down at the man whose 'childhood' had now been as surely shattered as his own, Ratatosk closed his eyes and reached out to the Tree.

**Mother, Yasin is here and the Sentinels have worked. I'm fine now.**

The wait was almost unbearable, as the Tree read from his mind what had occurred before making its reply.

_Then I can rest easy some of the guilt I feel for creating a Race purely for such a purpose. In creating them I have effectively crafted the Alurannai to feed my strength and spare yours. Their Bonds now bolster my spirit, and protect me from the hazards of this world's seasons. With the Sentinels they are planting and linking together, your Centurions and the Monsters will need no further help from you to maintain the mana levels... You are free to look solely after the Door, Ratatosk... and soon, once you are grown and your strength matured, you will be powerful enough to hold the Door from anywhere in the world._

Ratatosk's eyes went wide, a hint of his more innocent self showing in that moment of hope.

**You mean I can come out of this place someday? Out into the sunlight?**

_Yes, my child, you will... and Yasin will be at your side when you do._

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: Ok, I'm gonna try and make the chapters between 2-3k long from here on out. With dialogue to use rather than blocks of narrative, it will be easy to make them longer.**


	8. Beginning of a Partnership

**Alaia Skyhawk:**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 8: Beginning of a Partnership

-

Amber eyes opened slowly, a small frown creasing the space between their owner's eyebrows as the magic that had kept him in slumber finally faded. Lying there he remained silent, much to the concern of the young boy leaning over him, until after seemingly endless minutes he met the youth's gaze and smiled a little in reassurance.

"I'm alright, Ratatosk. Was it you who made me sleep so I could adjust?"

The young spirit gazed down at him and nodded.

"Yes. You were hurting because of me, because I unlocked all that knowledge when I shouldn't have." His expression became guilt stricken. "You're not angry with me... are you?"

Yasin sat up, pulling the boy into a hug as he murmured.

"Not at all, because while I was sleeping I've thought of a few ideas that may help you." He looked around the chamber, which looked just as it had when he'd first entered. "How long was I unconscious?"

"Almost a month." Yasin jolted at those words, hastily getting to his feet and turning for the chamber's exit. Ratatosk grasped at his trailing hand to stop him. "Wait, are you leaving?!"

At the fear in that voice, the terror of being left alone, Yasin turn and looked down at his young charge.

"I have to go back to the meadow for a while. If I don't show my face there the other Alurannai will wonder where I've been. I've been gone long enough as it is, and cannot delay returning. Not if I'm going to keep you a secret from the other alurannai."

Ratatosk's expression was pleading, but at the same time it was clear he knew Yasin was right. Instead of begging the man to stay, his muted voice reached his guardian's ears piteously.

"But it took you days to get here from there before... How long will you be gone?"

Yasin laid a hand on the young Spirit's head, ruffling his green hair.

"Not too long, and I can visit as much as l like... I know something the other Alurannai haven't 'remembered' yet" He tapped the side of his head when Ratatosk looked up at him. "I've got a lot of things to plan, and a lot of ideas. They'll take time to set up, but I believe they'll be worth the effort." He hugged Ratatosk and started to leave, before pausing and glancing back. "And I've got a name for this place, one which I think fits nicely... Ginnungagap... It's Ancient Elvish for 'Door of the Sanctuary'. That's what Symphonia is, a sanctuary of life, and you're guarding the doorway that keeps the evil from beyond out of it... See you soon, I'll come back in a week or so to visit."

He walked out of the chamber, disappearing into the passage to the rift, while by the seal Ratatosk murmured the name to himself with a smile.

"Ginnungagap... The Door of the Sanctuary..."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Yasin emerged from the glowing rip, out into the soft starlight of a crystal clear night to turn and face that blazing glow. It would have to be hidden, lest any of his people flying about the world see it from above and descend to investigate. If Ratatosk's meddling in the seal on his imprinted knowledge had done one thing helping, it had made him a theoretical master of magic. With the entire cumulative knowledge of elven magic, combined with his own innate understanding of the power of mana, Yasin combined the two and wove a near perfect illusion over the rift blending it into the background of grass. It would take some years of practice before theory would become true mastery, but for now this more than credible first attempt would hide this place... He could always improve it at a later date.

That task done, he spread his wings and took flight. Arrowing to where mana flowed outwards from the Sentinel, he descended to land beside it and placed a hand upon its trunk as he reached out to it with his mind.

**Send me to the Sentinel closest to Kharlan Tree Ratarani...**

A soft golden glow enveloped him and he vanished from sight, only to appear over a thousand miles away at the edge of the vast meadow where the Tree resided. Standing there beneath the other Sentinel, gazing out across that grass which was lit by sunset unlike the distant isle he was at a moment before, he could sense where normal weather ended and a perfect calm began.

Wondered by it, after glancing around to ensure no other alurannai had witnessed his 'arrival', he walked down the hill from where the Sentinel stood. Reaching the edge of that strange difference he passed through it, and in doing so felt the power of his people's Bonds to the tree woven into a web that held back the normal seasons outside and created an endless spring within. Smiling at the knowledge this protected area meant the Tree could flourish unharmed by storm or freezing cold, Yasin took flight once more and glided towards where a distant silent song called him home. He wasn't the only one with many ideas, for it seemed the Tree had put much into its latest creations. The Alurannai would unknowingly help Ratatosk balance the mana, would protect the Tree from the seasons, and also fuel its strength so it could in turn keep watch over Ratatosk as well. He too was part of that plan, a direct path of protection unlike the passive one of the rest of his people.

As he flew he continued to contemplate all the care the Tree had put into the Alurannai, and the future they would have ahead of them. He would be a key part of that future, would guide the path of his people's development and culture. The weight of that knowledge almost stifled him, but at the same time it gave him hope... By being the one who guided the path his people would take, he could ensure that everything possible could and would be done to protect Ratatosk.

Sunset became night, stars wheeling overhead until the sun began to rise at his back. He didn't rush, there was no need to now, and he arrived at the Tree late that day the man fated to rule his people greeted him.

Narim Brethil Aurion, an innocent and youthful smile upon his face, tilted his auburn haired head and welcomed Yasin home... While Yasin himself could only look at this unknowing sibling of Ratatosk's and feel guilt at the knowledge of the burden this man bore. A burden with a terrible cost should it be invoked, and all for the sake of the world and of Ratatosk...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

It was a perfectly relaxed young man who strolled up the side of the hill, his golden brown hair stirred by the warm gentle winds which were the only ones permitted in the Giant Tree's Meadow as his people had begun to call this place of protection. However, contrary to his apparent lack of concern, Yasin was currently praying inwardly that none of the other alurannai would come up here before he'd done what he needed to. The last few weeks here among his people had kept him on edge, as he'd watched them going about their daily childlike routines of waking, gathering to talk among each other, and exploring the immediate vicinity of the tree. Throughout it all he'd had to plaster the same naive smile on his own features and act as if he knew nothing more than they did... Innocent in ignorance...

He reached the top of the hill, sighing in relief when a quick glance at the 'town' below revealed no others were making their daily visit to see the Tree yet. He wasn't sure why he called it a 'town'; all it was, was a series of mats of crudely woven grass set out into little clusters with steadily more trodden paths weaving among them like an impression of the buildings and streets of the abandoned settlement about a mile away. His people would move into that settlement soon, he was sure, but before then he had his own plans involving those deserted habitations.

Putting that thought aside with a shake of his head, he turned his attention back to the tree which, for all it had only been three months, was several inches taller and looking decidedly more sturdy. Yasin approached the Kharlan Tree, wrapping his arms around a trunk that would one day take almost twenty people linked hand to hand to do the same.

"Ratarani, you don't have to be sorry. I understand why you did what you did to me."

He felt the Tree's touch as it reached out with its spirit, a hint of regret still there despite his words of forgiveness.

**It still grieves me though that I have bound you to live for eternity. I have given you a harsh road to travel...**

Yasin released his grip, instead now simply resting his forehead against the Tree's bark, smiling.

"...I know, but walking it with Ratatosk will make that path bearable... I'd just like to ask you something, though."

**You wish to ask if it is possible for me to transport you to the Ginnungagap Sentinel, and it you back to me, so you would not have to make excuses to fly to the Sentinel at the meadow's edge. In answer to that, yes I can; for the Sentinel lies above one of my roots.**

Yasin twitched, stepping back and looking up into the branches overhead.

"Ginnungagap? How did you?"

The touch of the Tree's spirit shivered, like a laugh.

**My son likes to speak to me, even when he is so far away... His fears have been allayed, and his hope restored, all thanks to your kind heart Yasin. While I may have created you to help him, you are still the person you have chosen to be, and that person is an admirable one.**

The alurannai man smiled once again, the mention of the young Spirit reminding him of what he needed to do.

"In that case I can start my planning right away, while the rest of my kind grow and gain experience on their own. If this works out, then I'll be ready to put my first ideas into action in about a hundred years from now. My people should be ready by then."

**Remember not to work too hard, dear Yasin. You are as young as them in body and experience, and it is only the knowledge I have given you that has allowed you to think this way. Do not forget to enjoy your youth-years with the rest of them, for I'm sure Ratatosk would like you to enjoy them alongside **_**him **_**as well... He's going to grow up very fast now, and by the time your people are ready for your plans, he will likely be grown as well.**

Yasin paused, conflicted for a moment before he sighed.

"I'll remember that." He then turned and left, taking flight. "Thank you, Ratarani."

**You are welcome, dear Yasin...**

Leaving the Tree behind, Yasin flew over where the rest of his people were still gathered, gliding idly like many of them did when the itch to spread wings and feel the wind in their faces urged them into the air. He had a target in mind though, unlike the others present in the skies, and upon reaching it he immediately landed and began what would be perfectly understandable poking about. Given a few more weeks the rest of the alurannai would be doing the same, settling themselves into elven settlement rather than build a new one on their own.

Walking from house to house, building to building, Yasin noted that all but a handful of furniture had been left behind. The Elves had stripped all they could from this place and taken it with them, but even with wing packs they'd not been able to take it all... and that was what he was counting on.

Eventually he found the first of the items he looked for, an ink pen lost in the corner of what had once been a study. Other places yielded scraps of paper, a chance find gaining him several large and, to him, valuable sheets that he immediately rolled up with utmost care. Over the hours he found yet more discarded writing implements, empty jars, and all manner of other random items ranging from hair combs to hammers. It was nearing nightfall that he got his greatest find though, one that had him immediately scouring his imprinted knowledge for every scrap of information about the item in question.

It was a wing pack, a damaged one... likely discarded for just that reason by the Elves in their rush to leave this place. Thanks to his knowledge though, this one wouldn't likely stay damaged for long. Paper, pens, and other salvaged useful items would be hidden away where there was no need fear others of his people would find them and wonder at why he possessed them. He would carry them all in secret upon his person, inside a flat disk the size and thickness of his palm.

Elated by finding the wing pack, Yasin hurried to the house where he'd begun storing all the bits and pieces he'd salvaged. He'd picked up a few tools besides the hammers, ones that with a little improvisation could hopefully be used to fix the device in his hand...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Frown creasing his features as his expression contorted with the degree of concentration he had turned on the disk in his hand, it was with a satisfied nod that Yasin set aside the slim metal rod he'd been using and examined the device he held. He could feel the wing pack drawing mana from the air around it, that tiny amount of draw easily concealed when he diverted a small flow of mana generated by himself to the disk. The rest of his people wouldn't learn of their ability to generate mana for a while yet, but he at least could use it to prevent them sensing the wing pack he would now be carrying.

Touching his fingertips to the depressions on one side, eyes closed as the wing pack sent the image of its contents through that contact, he was not surprised at it being empty. Any contents that had been in it would have been lost the moment it was damaged beyond using, the device devoid of all trace of its previous owner.

Patting down the plain and now rather grubby robe he'd worn since he was created, Yasin quickly found he would be able to clip the wing pack to the inside without trouble. He also noted he needed a bath, a necessity which his people had not 'remembered' yet. He decided then and there that he was going to 'remind' them himself... He'd had enough of smell now exuding from his clothing, a smell that the rest of his people had not yet learned to question coming from theirs.

Sighing with resignation, he began to pack all of the items and paper he'd salvaged into the wing pack, leaving the town and heading straight for the lake a short distance from the Tree. Reaching it he didn't even bother to land and undress, instead simply plunging into the waters sending a plume of spray showering into the air.

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Yet another sigh echoed through the chamber, the green-haired Spirit staring into empty air while the once again present Centurion slicked back black ears and twitched its tail. Why on earth was his master moping so much? Wasn't the fact that _he_ was here keeping him company good enough?

Tenebrae suppressed a sigh of his own, along with whatever grumbles he might have uttered under his breath. It was all rather confusing as to why his Lord Ratatosk should be so attached to a man ten years his junior, a man who despite that disparity of age had taken it upon himself to be Ratatosk's 'father'. He supposed it was something he would just have to get used to, but oh if only his master would stop _sighing!_

Ratatosk sighed again, Tenebrae planting his feline head face first into the floor and staying there. This was it, he was going to have to leave his master on his own for a while or be driven _crazy_ by his pining...

"Father? _FATHER!_"

The Centurion jolted upright as that shout shattered the silence of the chamber, Ratatosk dashing past the bemused feline to throw himself into the arms of the immaculately clean man who had just entered.

Yasin smiled as he hugged the boy in return, that joyous greeting and the name by which he'd been called filling him with joy in return. Then, as Ratatosk reluctantly let go and backed up a bit, he pulled the repaired wing pack from inside his robe and produced one of the more random items he'd found from it.

"Ratarani told me you've been bored since the mana was fixed, so I thought I'd bring you something I found. How about you and me play a game of 'catch'?"

Eyes lighting up at the ball Yasin offered him, Ratatosk accepted it with delight before proceeding to charge about the chamber cheering at the top of his lungs... while Tenebrae once again planted his face into the floor...

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehehe, poor Tenebrae XD**


	9. Inevitable Meeting

**Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, I loved the end of that last chapter. Can you imagine Tenebrae 'baby sitting' a pining ten-year-old Ratatosk?**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 9: Inevitable Meeting

-

Winds stirring his hair as he flew, Yasin sighed with contentment at the warm sun on his back as he listened to the chirring of the insects among the grasses below. Having not long gotten back from another short visit to see Ratatosk, he marvelled at how time had gone by. Two years, had it really been two years now since that partnership had begun? Well outside the meadow winter had showered the young Forest of Aluran twice, so from that he knew it _had_ been two years.

A lot had changed in that short time, his people having been living in the old elven town for most of that period. The old town was no longer devoid of residents, but it was still covered in every inch by plant life, and the Alurannai wouldn't have it any other way. The old town's fields were the only part that had been cleared, and then only because his people had begun taking up their own version and method of farming when the knowledge of such and of medicine had awoken within them. His people no longer subsisted purely on mana as they had in the beginning, with most now eating a meal or two per day made from the handful of crops they'd succeeded so far in growing.

Yasin chuckled to himself as he recalled his own first attempt at cooking... which had resulted in him reducing to ash the vegetable he'd attempted to roast using magic. He wasn't the only one who had done such though, with even the Narim scorching a few until everyone learned to judge just how much heat they were using.

That was another thing that had changed, the Narim. He was no longer as naive as he'd been, although he still possessed the ignorant innocence of the others. Brethil now actively stood as leader of the Alurannai, organising what things needed to be done from their current short list of activities and gathering those needed to do it. As such the fields were being tended by those alurannai who had been found with an innate talent for coaxing the plants to grow swiftly but strongly, while others more inclined to building and carpentry turned the ring of trees they'd been born from what little furniture his people had and needed. Some had even begun to experiment with metalworking, though most of the tools made so far were crude in appearance. Like with his first illusion at the Ginnungagap, Yasin knew knowing how something was made did not make you a master. It took a lot of practice before you could get it completely right.

Still basking in the sunlight as he glided on the breeze, Yasin once again sighed with contentment. Everything was settling down just nicely, so he had nothing he needed to worry about for n...

His eyes snapped open, amber gaze fixing on a point to the south as several presences impinged on his awareness. There, almost as if to taunt him for his thoughts, several figures were visible walking northwards... Elves...

Yasin cursed himself for forgetting about them. Of _course_ the Elves would send someone to check on the Tree after a while, especially since as far as they knew there was nothing protecting Ratarani from winter storms now that they had left the meadow. Seeing that group approaching now, he would have to act fast if he were to control the situation and ensure this first meeting between Elves and Alurannai went as smoothly as possible.

Folding his wings with a snap, he plummeted out of the sky far enough away from the elves that they wouldn't spot his descent. Then, after folding his wings behind him to avoid startling them _too_ much, he set off to intercept them on foot... He didn't want to risk having a bow fired at him as would likely have happened if he'd literally dropped out of the sky in front of them. Once he was close he pasted an expression of puzzlement and curiosity on his face, ready to play the part of an alurannai who unlike him didn't have a clue who or what these people were.

He stopped when they saw him, that group also ceasing their steps before he cautiously advanced towards them much like a child inching towards an unknown thing that had caught their attention. Once he was sure he was in hearing range of them, he then asked in perfect elvish as if confused.

"Who are you?"

The elves stared at him, unsure what to make of this man who resembled one of the humans whom their exploration scouts had seen on a continent to the south. It was clear this man wasn't a human though, since for all that on the surface his mana signature was like one, a second signature beneath definitely was _not_ human. The green tendrils on face, shoulders, and elbows was also a good indication, as was the folded glittered segments hanging from the man's back.

One of them came forward and approached him, the elven man frowning beneath the strands of short blue hair framing his eyes.

"I am Kirian, of the Elves, and we've come to check on Ratarani's safety." His frown deepened with puzzlement. "May I ask who _you_ are... _What_ you are?"

Yasin blinked as though also puzzled, before replying blandly with childlike bluntness.

"I am Yasin Perelir, of the Alurannai. The Alurannai are protectors of Kharlan Tree Ratarani, created by it to help it look after the mana." Kirian took a step back, but before he or the other four elves could respond Yasin grabbed him by the wrist and proceeded to tow him in the direction of the Tree. "You came to check Ratarani was safe, I will take you to it."

Kirian's started gasp was the only sound he uttered before he allowed himself to be dragged along, the rest of his party following behind. It was still a fair distance to the Tree, but luckily for these elves it was only a couple of hours walk before he let go of the man's wrist upon reaching the base of Ratarani's hill.

One of the other elves started towards the tree, the elven woman clasping hands before rushing to the summit. When the rest of those present caught up with her she was stood at the Tree's base, gently touching the trunk with her hand before looking up at the crown of branches above.

"I don't understand, how has the Tree grown so much so fast? It shouldn't have visibly changed in size in just two and a half years, but it's more than a hand span taller and is thicker in the trunk."

All elven eyes turned to Yasin, who just tilted his head and answered once again in bland and innocent bluntness.

"Our strength makes it stronger, so it can grow faster. Our Bonds to it also keep the Giant Tree's Meadow warm and shield it from storms. I told you... we were created by Kharlan Tree Ratarani to help and protect it."

There was a shiver in the air, a whispering voice reaching all their ears.

_Now now, dear Yasin, you are confusing them..._

The elves jolted at the Tree's 'voice', Kirian turning to it.

"Ratarani, so is what he say's true? You created him and those Alurannai to look after you?" He now sounded hurt. "But what about us? Weren't the Elves good enough to look after you?"

Ratarani's sigh reached them, the Tree explaining.

_While your efforts were effective and kept me safe, there is also another reason for which I created the Alurannai, one which the elves did not possess the ability to fulfil. The world's mana was becoming unstable, and I could not control it on my own, so I created the Alurannai to help me do that. Yasin and his people are now stewards of the world's mana, ensuring it remains stable so that life may continue to flourish here. Without them, the mana would have gone awry, and all life, including the Elves, would have perished._

The elves remained silent, stunned, Yasin allowing himself one speculative glance at them before bland innocence returned.

"Ratarani? Should I take them to speak to Narim Brethil?"

_Yes, introduce them to your fellow alurannai... Also, Kirian, you and your companions are not to use magic until you leave the lands of Aluran again. There is a reason for this, but it would take too much to explain so I ask that you abide by my instruction and refrain from using it._

As Yasin paused before setting off down the hill, Kirian nodded once before following.

"It will be as you ask, Ratarani."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

The feeling of eyes on his back made Yasin want to cringe beneath his facade of cheerfulness, as he led the five elves towards the town that had once been their home. Never in all his short life had he endured the sinking dread that came with praying you wouldn't give yourself away. Right now he had to pretend to be like the rest of his kind, while deep down part of him just screamed to deal with these elves on a more mature and level footing.

Biting back a sigh of resignation, as he rolled his eyes unseen by the quintet behind him, he led them into the town ignoring their gasps when they realised their abandoned homes were now being used by the Alurannai. He didn't stop as others of his kind came out to watch the elves pass, their eyes wide with curiosity, keeping moving until he reached a house close to the town's centre.

Narim Brethil was there, sat on a crude stool in the home's overgrown front garden, whittling away at the spoon he was attempting to carve using the short knife he'd recently been given by one of the new metal workers. Seeing Yasin and the strangers behind him, the alurannai ruler rose to his feet and set spoon and knife on the stool.

"Burre de utuvani jiisu, Yasin?"

The elven visitors looked baffled, Yasin suddenly fighting the urge to wince at what he only realised now was a total lack of foresight on his part. _He_ knew elvish because his knowledge was awakened, but the rest of the alurannai hadn't 'remembered' it yet. Thinking quickly he answered his king, before equally quickly coming up with what would hopefully draw from his king a plausible excuse for his flawless use of elvish.

"Vanu de elves, Narim Brethil. Vanu elai ya murato Ratarani." He looked back and forth between Brethil and the elven visitors, pasting a baffled expression on his face as he posed a question to himself and the elves, and hoped. "Why do I understand you? You do not speak Sumaityr, and yet I spoke to you in your own language without thinking to."

Amber eyes blinking in feigned confusion, he remained silent until after a few moments Brethil began to utter in stuttering and accented elvish which improved over a few seconds as the knowledge began to awake in him.

"I-It seems Ratarani... must have... seen them coming. Because you... w-were closest, it made you remember quickly."

Bless the Narim for the innocence that let the hoped for reaction be drawn from him so easily. Inwardly relieved, Yasin went along with it.

"It must have..."

Kirian frowned, not certain he understood.

"What are you talking about?"

Yasin turned to look at him.

"We were only created just over two years ago, and we needed knowledge in order to look after ourselves. The Tree gave us that knowledge, but it only awakens in us as it is needed. We need to understand you now, so the knowledge of your language is awakening in us. In me it seems the Tree had me remember all of it right away so that I could greet you and be interpreter. The rest of the Alurannai will begin to 'remember' now, but conversations will be slow because of that takes time. Having me to ask your questions to would speed things up, which must have been Ratarani's intention."

He looked back and forth between the visitor and the Narim, neither side aware that he was reading the situation with utmost care. What would the Narim do next?

Brethil turned to him, and spoke once again in broken elvish so that the visitors would understand what was being said.

"Show them t-to one of the houses which isn't... being used and see to it food is brought to them. We can talk... more tomorrow once I have... r-remembered more of their language. They are free to move about the town and speak to whoever they wish."

Yasin bowed to the Narim.

"I will do as you instruct, Narim Brethil."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

Entering his house and closing the door, Yasin sighed in relief at finally getting a reprieve. After showing Kirian and his companions to an empty house he'd ended up being their guide as they went about meeting the rest of the Alurannai. It had put a lot of strain on his already frayed nerves, and so he was more than glad to finally seclude himself in his home for the night.

Pausing at the windows to hang the woven grass panels he'd made over them, he conjured a few balls of light and set them to light his work area at the back of the room. He was at an important part of designing his idea for a backup for the Sentinels, and wanted to complete the initial calculations as soon as possible so he could begin designing the specifics of the structures. Those calculations had already taken him weeks of work, and hopefully a few more days would see them finished.

He sat down at his table and pulled his wing pack from inside his robe, taking out of it the small stack of paper sheets which had his technical drawings on them along with writing tools and an abacus he'd made. Pouring over his notes, he used the abacus with almost blurring speed, flicking beads back and forth while his mind bustled through the equations he used it to work out. He was so focused on his work that he didn't hear the light knock on his door, nor did he notice the door opening until a voice jolted him to alertness.

Yasin jerked to face the doorway, amber eyes meeting the started green gaze of Kirian. The elven man stared at him from his position half inside and half out of the doorway, eyes flicking between Yasin's startled expression and the writing paraphernalia spread on the table.

Realising no amount of fast-talking was going to come up with an excuse for _this_, Yasin sighed and waved the man to come in; dropping his cheerful, innocent facade completely.

"I suppose I should have said something earlier, but I'm a bit... different... from the rest of my people. In them the knowledge the Tree gifted us with is still mostly dormant, but in me it is all awake."

The elven man regarded him solemnly, before nodding.

"I wondered a little when we first met Narim Brethil, but I will admit your excuse had me fooled. You have a sharp mind."

Yasin chuckled once before frowning.

"I think the Tree needed us to begin preparing things, but didn't want to rob us all of innocent youth... I am the one who lost their innocence just days after my creation, and began to work on that preparation."

"Preparation?"

Glad he'd pulled _all_ of his drawing out of his wing pack, Yasin absently pulled his single completed one over the incomplete one he'd been working on, hiding the latter drawing. Kirian had called him sharp, but honestly had no clue just _how_ sharp a mind this alurannai man had. Yasin could calculate responses quicker than the blink of an eye, and knew he could divert this elven visitor with the most innocent of his designs.

Gesturing for Kirian to come closer and take a look at the drawing, Yasin began pointing to the tall curved structure depicted upon it.

"This is a design for a powerful shield to surround this vast meadow. These spires will be built around the meadow's perimeter and keyed to the Narim Brethil and his descendants, with all alurannai putting a small amount of mana into a spire whenever the pass by one. The spires will store the mana, ready to fuel the shield to protect the Tree if it ever becomes necessary. It will take a long time for enough mana to be built up in the spires, but then hopefully we'll never have to use it."

Kirian gaped as he examined the sheet, and while he could not read Sumaityr it didn't take a genius to figure out that the structured lines of text covering the paper around the detailed schematic were line after line of calculations.

"When did you come up with this? I've never seen anything like it before. How does it work?"

Yasin smiled wryly, pulling his battered looking wing pack from inside his clothing once more.

"Perhaps this will help, since you cannot read Sumaityr." Drawing it from the wing pack, he set a miniature replica of the shield on the table, simple ring of six tiny crystal spires held in formation by being inserted into a flat disk of wood. Touching one of them, Yasin murmured something causing the spires to glow and a golden barrier to form between them into a small dome. "I used this to check my calculations were correct. The barrier is sound, and reflects all that is directed at it as long as there is mana in the spires for it to draw on."

If Kirian had been stunned before, he was now shocked beyond comprehension. This was magitechnology of a type no elf had ever seen before, and one which could only have originated from the man sat at the table.

"H-how did you come up with this? You yourself said you were only created two years ago. How is it possible for someone so young to invent something this complex?"

Yasin deactivated the shield, returning the model to his wing pack before regarding this elf who was likely a few centuries older than him the way a teacher regards an inexperienced student.

"As I told you before, my people were gifted with all their knowledge by Ratarani. While the rest only have in them what knowledge is needed for them to build their culture and grow into a stable people, _I_ was tasked with guiding them in that. I possess _all_ of Ratarani's knowledge, which encompassed all of _your_ technology and magic in addition to many other things. Add to that my innate understanding of the core physics of mana, and you get this." He tapped the drawing, smiling slightly. "I played the innocent childlike individual with you earlier, but now, since it is pointless for me to do otherwise, I will be frank. Do not judge me by that first impression, and do not underestimate me. I was created as I was for the sake of this world and all the life on it, and I'm good at it."

Once again Kirian stared, before shaking his head and beginning to chuckle.

"Oh you can be sure I won't underestimate you again, Yasin. The question is, what do we do now that I know about you and you know I know?"

Yasin tapped his fingers on the table mulling it over before glancing at the elf with a single raised eyebrow.

"Well if the Elves and the Alurannai are going to be friends, some kind of liaison is going to have to be set up... Perhaps I could serve as ambassador between my people and yours. I'm certain of the fact I can get Narim Brethil to agree to and give his blessings to the establishment of such a friendship." He held up his wing pack. "Besides, I will need to trade for wing pack components. Your people left this one behind because it was damaged, and my repairs are rather makeshift. I keep all of my drawings in here to keep from spoiling the 'childhood' of my fellows should they find them, so if it fails I will lose all my work."

With the smile of a fellow conspirator, Kirian nodded.

"Of course, and you can ask me for whatever materials you think you'll need since I'm sure you can't have much paper."

Yasin's smile widened, glad he was finally getting to treat with this elf on a level footing.

"I would appreciate that, and I will speak to Narim Brethil in the morning. If things work as I expect, I will be coming back with you to your settlement with the Alurannai's offered 'hand of friendship'."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, plot point number two filled to match with the Restoration Series. The elves have sent someone to check on the Tree, and in doing so discovered the Alurannai :D**

**Translation note: Brethil asked Yasin who the elves were, Yasin told him they were elves and that they came to see the Giant Tree. I expect it was pretty obvious what was said but figured would tell you guys anyway.**


	10. The Hand of Friendship

**Alaia Skyhawk: Heehehe, Yasin is almost as sneaky as I am XD**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 10: The Hand of Friendship

-

Six figures trekked through the forest, five of them leading the way for the sixth that followed their lead. After speaking to the Narim, Yasin had gotten exactly what he'd wanted and was asked to represent the Alurannai in meeting and forming a friendship with the Elves. He, Kirian, and the other elves had departed shortly after that to begin the four-week journey on foot to Evarial; the new elven settlement set amid the rolling hills and plains of what had been named the Kharlan Grounds by the elves. During the time walking since, Yasin had remained almost totally silent. He certainly wasn't as talkative as he'd been that night Kirian had caught him red handed with the drawings, which given the company did not require the man to hide he was different from his people only made Kirian puzzled.

Glancing back at the ambassador he was leading, the aforementioned elf frowned and sighed.

"Yasin, do you really need to talk so little? You're making me nervous when you stay quiet like that."

Amber eyes flicked up to meet the elf's, the distant thoughts in them drawing back as he placed his attention squarely on Kirian.

"Bear in mind that, despite my knowledge, I have still only existed for a bare two and a half years. As the one who must guide my people in their growth as a Race, it is a heavy burden to carry at such as age with so little actual experience. There is so much I cannot tell my people, or risk ruining the delicate balance of mana we set up when we planted the Sentinels and linked them together."

Kirian averted his eyes in remorse, the other elves also tactfully staying silent. Yasin had already explained to them about the Sentinels, which Kirian had called Arba Liudis; 'Tree Lords' in elven. The elves had ironically built their new settlement quite close to one of the great trees, calling that tree by that name when they had sensed the vitality that spread from it into the lands about it. One day that Sentinel would serve as a gateway between the future Elven City of Evarial and the future Forest Citadel of Alahnsyr, but at this time none of those present knew that. The friendship forged between their two Races would be second only to that between the three Offspring Races, and that friendship would spawn an era of peace and unity that would remain largely un-sundered for uncountable ages.

Here and now, though, both sides were still unsure how to react to the vagaries of the other, and it would take time for that understanding to come...

Once again uncertain, Kirian sighed again, before resuming walking south.

"My apologies. Feel free to speak when you wish to, we will not query your silence again."

Yasin almost winced at the stiff formality behind that phrase, aware that it would take some effort for him to regain the almost easy camaraderie of that night in his house. What had been comfortable when in just Kirian's presence had proven uncomfortable in the additional company of the other four elves, and until he got past that such informal conversation would be impossible for him.

Once again in silence they trudged onwards among the trees, trees that were part of the belt of forest he had flown over carrying the seed of a Sentinel to the island where his true task had begun. Glancing around at them he could sense these trees were but infants despite already reaching between twenty and thirty feet tall. These trees would one day be over a _thousand _feet tall, so tall and strong they would be an awe inspiring barrier between the meadow where the Tree stood and the open world beyond. They would even tower far far larger than the Kharlan Tree itself, although these would never be termed by the name Giant Tree. That name was for the Kharlan Tree, which on its home world of Derris Kharlan would have towered over all other living things in existence.

He shook himself from his musings, realising he was falling behind his guides. Hurrying to catch up to them he found them stopped at the edge of a river, which had cut a steep sided trench into the forest floor.

The female among the elves frowned, indicating the barrier to the alurannai man.

"We're still in the area where Ratarani doesn't want us using magic... We'll have to follow it until we find a place we can cross."

None of the elves looked particularly happy at the thought, especially considering that using magic crossing such a trench would have been easy. Knowing as he did he needed to try and foster the as yet uncertain friendship between him and these people, and failing to consider the fact he could have just _carried_ them across... Yasin deigned to use a skill particular to the Alurannai.

"Here, let me make a way across."

He strode straight past them, walking right to the edge without stopping and stepping over it. The elves lurched towards him as if to stop and catch him, but before he could fall so much as an inch, thick vines erupted from the edge of the trench for him to step on. They shot across the width of the river, plunging into the far side before settling into sturdy span wide enough for people to cross in single file. Yasin continued his walk across it as if it were nothing, while the elves just stared at it, Kirian stuttering.

"H-how did you do that? We didn't sense any magic."

Yasin stopped on the other side of the bridge, realising only now the gaff he'd just made. Bringing a hand to his face, he sighed and explained.

"Vines are plants, and as a fellow plant in this area under the Tree's dominion I can call on them to do my bidding... We needed a bridge, so I told them to grow across the river and form one."

Kirian and the others crossed it, the elven man still frowning as he looked Yasin top to toe in disbelief.

"You're a _plant?_"

"Yes..."

"But you don't look like one..."

"Looks are often deceiving..."

The two of them stared at one another for several seconds more, before Kirian relaxed his stiff posture and shook his head in amusement.

"You told me back at the meadow not to underestimate you, I guess I should have listened a bit better since I know so little about your people." He smiled, some of his previous tension easing. "Well since you are a plant, are there any special requirements you will need when we reach Evarial?"

Yasin smiled back, relaxing a little as well. Maybe his gaff with the bridge wasn't such a bad thing as he'd expected.

"No, I have no special needs." He tilted his head. "A place I can sit in the sun would be appreciated. I don't _need_ sunlight, but sitting in it is... nice."

All five elves chuckled, Kirian patting Yasin on the shoulder.

"Then I'll make sure I find a nice spot for you when we get there. Is there anything else I need to know about your people?"

Yasin shook his head, as they set off again once more.

"Not that I can think of right now. I'll tell you if I think of anything."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

It was with a cheer that the sight of the edge of the forest was spotted, elven guides breaking into laughter and charging out onto open grass. Watching them Yasin could only chuckle, since the edge of the forest marked the border of Aluran and the end of the magic ban on the quintet. The group of elves immediately assigning tasks among each other, to set up camp and prepare the evening's meal, the alurannai man located a nearby spot where the grass was somewhat shorter and settled himself down to sit in the sun. He'd offered to help every night since the trip had begun, and had been turned down every time. Being one who could take a hint, he'd soon stopped asking if they needed help and simply left them to it.

Kirian watched him settle himself, smiling at the contented expression on Yasin's face as he lay down to bask in the sun's rays. It was late in the day, so he wouldn't have time to do _much_ of it, but seeing the man relax so completely in their presence made clear the level of trust he placed in them. If Yasin could trust them that much, then they could do the same.

Two of his companions setting up the tents, while the other two began to discuss what would be cooked this evening, for the first time since the Tree had given its command Kirian left flint and steel inside his wing pack and instead reached for magic to light the campfire. It was a relief to do it, given how ingrained the habit of using magic was for most elves. They all carried the means to do things the more mundane way, but magic was so much quicker and simpler that to use it was second nature.

Sighing with a kind of contentment similar to the basking Yasin's, Kirian gripped the mana around himself and drew on it, a puff of flame erupting among the pile of firewood before him the same instant Yasin suddenly let out a shriek of pain.

All five elves leapt to the feet and rushed to the still whimpering alurannai, all five stopping to gape at what had happened to the grass around him. Grass that had been short now stood a lush three feet tall, the mana around him having risen so high so fast that the grass had been forced to grow quickly or explode.

Yasin winced, coughing painfully as he pushed himself upright. His skin was tinged grey despite the glowing sunlight, as he gasped irregularly before managing to speak.

"P-please... don't do that again... It... it hurts..."

Yasin shuddered, trying to get up but failing when his legs wouldn't straighten. Pulling at the hem of his robe trying to find out what was wrong, he blanched even paler when what was wrong was revealed. Parts of the skin on his legs had turned rough and brown like bark, and while the effect was visibly receding the restored skin looked sore and red.

Staring at where Yasin's flesh had begun to turn into tree, Kirian looked almost sick.

"This is why Ratarani didn't want us using magic while in Aluran, isn't it. What happened just now?"

His expression still pained as the last of his skin returned to normal, Yasin lurched to his feet grimacing.

"When you drew on the mana to cast your spell, I sensed the levels around you drop and my body reacted out of instinct. It began trying to counter the drop, throwing out mana, too much mana, for me to sustain the generation of. If you hadn't stopped, the drain on my body probably would have killed me."

The elven man reached out to support the trembling alurannai, awed despite the situation.

"You can generate mana the way the Kharlan Tree can?"

A stiff nod came in reply.

"Yes, though at only a tiny fraction of the level and only for limited amounts of time. I hadn't realised I had so little control over it yet. It wasn't until my body acted out of my control that I knew... Maybe it's not such a good idea for me to come to Evarial yet. Another incident like this and I'm not sure I'd live through it."

Kirian frowned, thoughtful, before turning to one of his companions and ordering tersely.

"Run on ahead to Evarial and explain this to the Elder. I want him to impose a complete ban on magic until after Yasin has completed his visit to cement the beginning of the friendship between the Alurannai and the Elves. It's not right we make him turn back after coming this far, when something so simple can be done by us to permit him to come. Make sure it's understood what the use of magic will do to him, so that none will be tempted to ignore the ban." He then turned back to Yasin. "It won't be like this forever will it? A close friendship might be difficult to maintain if my people have to ban magic every time one of you visit."

Yasin laughed, still a little grey.

"No, I don't think it will be. It would be awfully inconvenient for my people if every time we used magic around each other we hurt each other, and I know we are capable of magic. No, I think it's just a case of needing time to adjust and stabilise, we _are_ very young still after all."

The elven man shook his head, smiling a little but still serious.

"Even so, I'm going to make sure every precaution is taken. You are one of the stewards of the world's mana, and none among the Elves would ever do anything to risk you or your people being hurt by our actions. Rest up for tonight, Yasin, and we'll set off again in the morning. In two weeks time you _are_ going to meet the Elven Elder in Evarial, and be given the welcome you deserve for what you and your people are doing for all life on Symphonia..."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: I'd considered putting the bit with the Elves in one chapter, but decided to keep it as two. I'll start work on the next one right away :D**


	11. An Inestimable Gift

**Alaia Skyhawk: Aaaaaaaand another plot point getting filled :)**

**-**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr Who 2123, Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, and Gaea Silverleaf, who belongs to Sparkling Moon Phoenix, so please don't steal them... **

**-**

Chapter 11: An Inestimable Gift

-

If being stared at by five elves had been uncomfortable back at the meadow, being stared at by over _fifteen thousand_ of them was by far worse. Having pasted a calm facade over his nigh trembling self, Yasin showed no outward sign of the fact that at this particular moment in time all he wanted to do was _run_. He felt like some tiny creature backed into a corner by a baying pack of predators, despite the fact he knew he was welcome here. The real pressure was the fact that here and now he was representing his entire race in front of these people, his race being one only two years in existence.

Having passed through the outer part of the town and its surrounding fields, the group had reached the point where homes with large cottage gardens gave way to the more closely arranged buildings of workshops and businesses. Also what had initially started as just a few individuals coming out of homes to watch him pass had become a solid wall of murmuring people on either side of the street. He was, quite frankly, terrified by the situation, and the man who had led the group seemed to notice it.

Kirian moved from his position at the front of the group to instead stand beside the Alurannai Ambassador, his presence a partial shield against the stares as well as moral support. True to the request sent ahead, magic had been temporarily banned within the settlement. A few disgruntled murmurs came from younger less experienced elves to be picked up by Yasin's sharp hearing, but all of the older elves accepted the need with grace and decorum. That much reassured him, but still didn't do much for his pounding heart. He was one single alurannai, stood amid thousands of elves, and all eyes were on him and what he would do next.

The group picked up their pace, clearly wanting to spare Yasin as much of what was a clearly distressing situation as possible. Hurrying him to the centre of the town, they joined him in a deep sigh of relief when they entered the front door of the Elven Elder's home and that door was closed behind them.

Yasin wrapped his arms about himself, staving off the desire to tremble. Offering to come visit the elves had seemed so simple at the meadow, a pity that fifteen thousand elves was actually a number far more daunting than it had seemed back then.

Kirian left the alurannai man standing there, giving him a chance to compose himself, while he proceeded down the short hallway and lightly tapped upon the door at the end of it.

"Great-Grandfather, may I come in?"

"You may."

Kirian took at deep breath, the response having been immediate... He now had to hope his highhanded _order_ for magic to be banned wasn't about to get him into trouble. Knowing he couldn't put this off, he entered the room not looking at the elderly elf sat upon a cushion at the far end, walking forwards with his head down before kneeling and putting his forehead to the floor.

"I've brought the Alurannai Ambassador, Yasin, to see you, and I report that Ratarani is protected from the weather by his people and is flourishing. It has grown in size due to their care, and continues to grow in strength with each passing day."

He remained as he was, not moving from this position that left him nothing to fix his anxious gaze on other than the weave of the rug under his nose. He might even have said he was as scared right now as poor Yasin had been outside, here beneath the gaze of the Elven Elder, his great-grandfather.

The elderly elf frowned a little as he gazed upon the prostrated form of his great-grandson, considering all he had learnt from the elf who had been sent ahead with the message. A small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, his eyes softened as he spoke with a note of pride.

"You have done well, Kirian, and represented the Elves admirably in what is most certainly an unexpected situation. We had no idea why Ratarani forced us to leave, but you have brought us not only answers as to that, but a new friendship as well." Grey eyes lifted to look at the closed door of the room, his voice carrying to the person beyond. "You may enter, honoured visitor. I believe you and I have much to discuss."

The door opened, Yasin edging inside and closing it behind him before beginning to wring his hands. He was twitching like a frightened bird at the slightest stray sound, so much so Kirian immediately rose to his feet and hurried over to him.

"Yasin, come, sit down. I'll get you some tea."

He planted the alurannai man on one of the cushions set near the one upon which an amused Elder sat, darting over to a kettle set upon a brazier by the window of the wooden-walled room. As for the Elder himself, he watched as his descendant fumbled with small pottery cups before directing his gaze at his visitor.

"I was informed that your name is Yasin Perelir, and you are of a newborn Race called the Alurannai." Amber eyes fixed on him nervously, Yasin so tense he barely breathed. The Elder just smiled. "You need not worry about formality with me. When one reaches the age of nine hundred and sixty-two, you tend to worry less about such needless flustering."

The corner of Yasin's mouth twitched with the tiniest of smiles, the Elder's manner putting him at ease enough that he blurted his next words without really thinking.

"Well I'm only two, so I wouldn't know about that ye..."

He clamped a hand over his mouth, horrified he would be so pert. The Elder, though, just burst out laughing, the sound almost causing Kirian to drop the cup he was holding.

"Oh no need be ashamed about being blunt. Even if you were as old as myself, I would not expect you to beat about the bush. We are here to begin a friendship between our races, and friends do not worry about being honest with one another. Now, let us begin by explaining to one another about our peoples."

Yasin's smile became more open, as he nodded.

"Indeed. While I was gifted a great deal of knowledge about the Elves and your culture by Ratarani, knowing it in theory is much different from witnessing it for myself. I understand you use a council system, with several councils, each led by an elected Elder, all answering to the First Elven Elder who is in turn elected from among the others when the previous holder of the position passes away."

The Elder nodded.

"That is correct, although at present there is only a single council. Until we begin to spread out and form other settlements besides this one, we only need the one. Now, seeing as you know our leadership structure, please describe yours to me..."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

The sigh that was cast into the night air was one of deepest relief, relief that the one who cast had come through this most challenging of days. Stood on the back porch of the Elder's home, looking out at the secluded garden that lay there, Yasin paused for a moment before stepping out into that lovingly cared for space.

Walking down an earthen path between flowerbeds that might have actually been natural clusters of plants, he marvelled at how the Elves cultivated the land and yet still found a way to maintain the balance of nature upon it. They showed a deep understanding of action and consequence when it came to nature, and also a deep respect for it that he found himself admiring them for. He could learn a lot from these people, things that he would in turn teach to his own. Entranced by the sense of contentment he could pick up from those plants, when he found a bench secluded in a quiet corner among them he sat there to listen. So much peace, it soothed away the fears he'd felt upon being confronted by so many people. Up until now he'd known only the others of the handful of alurannai, and now he knew just how few they really were right now.

Footsteps reached his sharp hearing, but he didn't move. Four weeks in the man's company meant it was exceedingly easy to identify Kirian's mana signature. Waiting until the elf had reached the corner in which the bench stood, Yasin smiled to himself before speaking.

"Your Great-Grandfather is a remarkable man. I can understand why he was picked to lead your people... He listens, and never stops learning from what he hears."

Kirian chuckled, sitting himself beside the ambassador.

"He can be harsh when he wants to, when he needs to, but you're right about him listening. He was the one who said we had to leave Derris Kharlan. That we _had_ to move here or be doomed to die. I... don't have a lot of happy memories of Derris Kharlan. It was dark and without hope, and the only real brightness anywhere was the azure glow from the flowers of the Kharlan Trees."

Yasin turned and looked at him, curious.

"There are other Kharlan Trees? On Derris Kharlan?"

The elf nodded.

"Yeah, though not many. When one of them produced a seed just a few months before Derris Kharlan was due to pass close to this world, Great-Grandfather took it as a sign the Trees understood we were doomed if we stayed. When the seed germinated it was placed into a special urn rather than planted in Derris Kharlan's soil, our magic keeping it small enough to carry until we could use our world's mana to bridge the way to this one. The Tree was planted on the hill right after that, growing to its proper young size as soon as the spells were released."

"And it was then the Tree created Origin, Maxwell, the eight Elemental Summon Spirits, the Protozoans, and all other plants and animals on this world."

Yasin soft conclusion was but a whisper, one that brought a light of deep thought to Kirian's eyes.

The elven man sighed, before looking up at the stars.

"You've taught us so much today that we didn't know. Summon Spirits exist on Derris Kharlan, and are the only form of sentient life other than the Kharlan Trees that truly flourishes there. We had no idea the Tree had created Summon Spirits for this world, not until you told us. Up until today we thought the Tree had created the Humans and Dwarves our scouts came across during their exploration this past year, but now we know Origin, the Summon Spirit of Creation, was the one who made them. I wonder if any of our summoners will try to make pacts with any of them."

Yasin smiled.

"Might as well wonder when the first Protozoan will evolve to the stage that they leave the lake near Ratarani... It's bound to be a long while before it happens. Besides, the Spirits like to move around at this time, so catching up with one of them to make a pact might be difficult."

Kirian laughed.

"Yes, that might prove a bit awkward. I suppose someone will come up with a solution at some point, but for now pacts with them will have to remain a distant dream." He paused, seeming to remember why he'd come out into the garden. "Oh, I brought this for you, since you mentioned your one is in need of replacement parts. I figured it would be easier just to give you a new one."

He pulled an item from his pocket, offering a pristine new wing pack to the startled alurannai man.

Accepting it, Yasin gazed at it before regarding the elf with gratitude.

"Thank you, this will help me a great deal."

Kirian chuckled.

"I'm sure it will, I've already half-filled it with paper, pens, ink, and drawing tools. Just let me know when you run out and I'll get you some more." He pulled another item from his pocket, a bundle of cloth wrapped around something. "I also want you to have this. It's been handed down in my family for generations, and it's one of the few remaining Ancient Amulets of Derris Kharlan."

Pocketing the wing pack, Yasin accepted the new bundle with puzzlement and unwrapped it to reveal a thin flat piece of metal half as wide as his palm. The symbol upon it was made of broad interlocking bands, and even just looking at it he could sense the age and potency of the enchantment it held.

"This... I can't accept this, it must mean so much to you and your people..."

Kirian picked it up and placed it on Yasin's right wrist, the amulet's strands extending to form a bracelet to hold it there. His voice was sure as he spoke.

"The Derris Emblem will protect you from falsity and illusion, which in truth you are not likely to encounter as a danger. I give it to you not so much to protect you, but as a sign of friendship. Consider this my promise of trust in you, and my hope that we will continue to be friends until the ends of our days. Just as I hope our peoples will remain friends for always."

Stunned into silence, Yasin stared at him for a few moments more before closing his eyes and smiling.

"I promise you, Kirian, I will _always_ consider you my friend... Always until the end of my days."

---.--.---.--.---.--.---.--.---

**Alaia Skyhawk: And so the origin of the Derris Emblem is explained, and obviously how Ratatosk will come to have it in his possession later. Also, I have to say, Yasin's last sentence was rather profound a promise. More profound that Kirian will ever know. Awww**


End file.
